IMPEDANCE AND ION TRANSIT TIMES IN GLOW DISCHARGE TUBES
Abstract
A relationship has been noted between the transit times of ions in the glow discharge cathode fall and the frequency at which the reactance of the discharge changes from inductive to capacitive. The use of an electronic computer has enabled a more exact calculation of ion transit times. In the stationary state, effective i n transit times may be calculated directly from the field and current distributions across the gap. Dynamically, a small sinusoidal increment to the applied voltage across the tube may be used to calculate the impedance of a discharge gap. The ion transit time may then be determined from the phase lag between the electron current at the anode and ion current at the cathode. Satisfactory agreement for the ion transit times calculated by 2 methods is obtained. Experimental measurements of impedances of argon tubes have been made. Although it is difficult to obtain experimental data and calculations for the same current density range, preliminary data tend to support the proposed hypothesis relating the ion transit time and the frequency of zero reactance. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 30, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0274470
Entities
People
- A.l. Ward
- L.g. Schneekloth
Organizations
- Harry Diamond Laboratories